If not, no worries, you got some good views too.įrom the saddle between Spring Mountain and Comanche Peak, the trail descends into Hiltman Creek Basin with expansive views to the lake and valleys below. If you decided to bag the three nearby 13ers, good on you.
Perhaps too mellow for some, who might seek to bag three nearby peaks - Venable, Spring, and Comanche all walk-ups. Once you attain the saddle, Phantom Terrace #359 merges from the left (north) and the trail becomes very mellow. The low pass provided a natural route from north to south for native peoples to travel.From the intersection of North Fork Crestone Trail #747 and North Crestone Trail #744, Comanche rises swiftly with a number of switchbacks. 385 from Marathon through Persimmon Gap, you follow the route of the original Comanche Trail. Coupled with the practice of setting fires behind them to drive off any pursuit that might follow, the Comanches produced a major thoroughfare a mile wide in some places and "so well beaten that it appeared that suitable engineers had constructed it." Few explorers failed to mention this scar upon seeing it cut across the heart of the Big Bend.Īlthough visible signs of the trail no longer exist, today as you travel in your modern-day "covered wagon" down U.S. The "booty" that did not survive the forced march left their bleached bones as stark monuments to others passing through the area. Livestock and prisoners were herded back across the river northward along the Great Comanche Trail through Persimmon Gap again. It was easy for them to avoid the widely-spaced presidios and small garrisons of Spanish soldiers to raid any settlement meeting their needs. The small frontier villages that had been established by Spain in the 1700s were ripe for "harvest" by the Comanches.
The Comanches proceeded to their weakest opponents of all - the Spanish and their line of fortifications, or presidios, along el Rio Bravo del Norte (the Brave River of the North). But eventually, even the Apaches dropped back into their hiding places and let the invaders pass. They would harass the small bands of Comanche raiders and ambush the larger parties at springs and tinajas.
#Comanche trail Patch#
The Apaches, on the other hand, had a firm grip on existence on this particular patch of earth and knew its secrets intimately. The Chisos Indians, a hunting-gathering-farming band, were no match to the extremely mobile Comanche warriors astride their mounts. It was time once again for the annual conflict to begin anew. The Comanches at this point had entered the territories of other tribes: the Chisos and Apaches, who had already mastered survival in this harsh Chihuahuan Desert.
By the time they entered Persimmon Gap, the trail had already acquired lasting characteristics from decades of use during migrations such as this one. Their route forked after leaving Horsehead Crossing on the Pecos River and forged its way southward. They had practiced their equestrian skills during extended hunts and sharpened their reflexes in preparation for this exhaustive journey and the lifestyle they would adopt along the way. During the time of the "Comanche Moon," this nation of nomads pulled up settlements and departed the buffalo-hunting grounds on the Great Plains in what is now Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Texas Panhandle.
#Comanche trail full#
The full moon of September rose ominously over the Deadhorse Mountains and heralded the arrival of the Comanche Indians. After the beautiful brilliance of spring flowers, summer's blistering heat and the sporadic but fierce late-summer thunderstorms, the desert was primed for the greatest challenge it had yet to undergo.
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